Former Italy defender Andrea Barzagli believes Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling are England’s most dangerous players and claims Juventus have lacked programming over the last two years.
The 40-year-old retired from football in 2018 and, from August, he will begin a new career as a TV pundit for DAZN.
He spent almost a decade playing with Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci for both Italy and Juventus and he believes their former teammates can play a key role for the Azzurri in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final against England on Sunday.
“Leo and Giorgio feel the weight of responsibility, they are giving so much to this national team, they are a perfect defensive duo,” Barzagli told Tuttosport.
“We play at Wembley, but if we take command of the ball, we can overcome that. They are physically strong, but if we keep the ball possession and we take the ball, we have good chances.”
Barzagli, Chiellini and Bonucci played against Harry Kane in 2017, in a Champions League Round of 16 clash between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur.
“Kane is tall, physically strong and he drops between the lines to get the ball, he is similar to Dzeko. Sterling and he are ones I would remove from their squad, they can light up England anytime,” Barzagli said.
The former centre-back won a Bundesliga title at Wolfsburg during his playing career before returning to Juventus. That was the only time he played abroad. Now, Gigio Donnarumma is also ready to pack his luggage and move abroad, more precisely to PSG, where he will reunite with his compatriot Marco Verratti.
“Milan have lost Donnarumma for reasons I don’t want to discuss, but it’s true that our key players, from Jorginho to Verratti, all play abroad in top teams,” said Barzagli.
“Gigio will go to PSG and I think it’s the right choice, he proved to be among the top three in the world.”
Is he surprised by Massimiliano Allegri’s return to Juventus?
“Not much, really, because Juventus lacked programming in the last two years, also due to the pandemic, now their old coach is back, a coach who knows how to win and I hope he will do that straight away.”
Barzagli was rumoured to enter Allegri’s technical staff as he had done with Sarri’s in 2019. However, he left the job after six months.
“I was wrong to accept the proposal, I should have taken time for myself, but it was a great experience with Sarri and his staff.
“There were some disagreements, but we never argued. I left because the pandemic made me reflect on what I really wanted, I couldn’t give everything that I wanted and it was my fault.”